Can a tweet, Facebook post, or uploading a video to YouTube be considered a form of political participation? Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are not just where we connect with friends; they are places where we conduct business, discuss important political issues and show our support for social causes. In doing so, new forms of participation such as status updates, comments, videos, and profile pictures have begun to emerge, but are not yet recognized as valid forms of political participation by governments and politicians. This shift is challenging our expectations of democracy and requires us to reexamine our methods of engagement and what we consider to be valid forms of political participation. As a result, we now expect to use the same social media tools to connect with political leaders and public institutions that we already use on a daily basis to connect with friends and family. In this talk I’ll discuss some examples of new forms of political participation, including the Occupy Wall Street movement, and their implications for how we interact with government.
Shawn Walker: Not Your Parents’ Protest: New Forms Of Political Participation In Social Media[ 57:31 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (21)
Pacific salmon perform spectacular feats of migration, traveling thousands of miles from their natal river to distant stretches of the Pacific Ocean. Using their sense of the magnetic field and smell, they then return to nearly the exact location they were born. Most coho salmon from Puget Sound follow this migration pathway. However, some individuals do not migrate to the open ocean, instead remaining in the semi-enclosed, urbanized waters of Puget Sound. This “resident” behavior is risky. Individuals that stay in Puget Sound are smaller, and may have increased exposure to toxic contaminants. We don’t know why coho salmon remain in Puget Sound or exactly where they go. What are the benefits of staying? Are hatchery produced fish more likely stay than wild fish? My research seeks to understand the diversity of Puget Sound coho movement patterns. I track their movements using acoustic telemetry, and use data from commercial fisheries to determine if hatchery production is related to resident behavior.
Jessica Rohde: Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Diverse Migration Patterns Of Puget Sound Coho Salmon[ 40:15 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (35)
Engage: The Science Speaker Series, presents “UW Science Now,” hosted by the Seattle Science Lectures this year. Our talks will either be downstairs at Town Hall or at the Town Hall Pub. See below for schedule and ticket information. More information on the speakers and the content of their talks is coming soon and will be posted on our website (www.engage-science.com).
Two years ago, we developed curriculum out of a belief that science has an important voice in our society, and that scientists need to know how to speak their voice in a helpful way. Modeled after discussions found in books by Chris Mooney, Randy Olsen, Cornelia Dean, and others, our course incorporated elements of story-telling, improvisational arts, development of analogy, and a focus on clarity, brevity, and accessibility. We tested elements of our talks with our peers from many scientific fields to craft our research into engaging presentations.
Teaching each other how to best communicate our research wasn’t enough — we wanted to directly engage with the public. We created a lecture series with the aim of showing people in the Seattle area what kinds of research are going on at UW, and to allow them the opportunity to learn some cutting edge, brand-new science. For two years, we have invited folks to the UW campus to hear directly from the scientists doing the work.
After our last season, we decided that to better reach the public, we should move our lecture series off campus. We’re excited that Town Hall and the Seattle Science Lectures agreed to host our talks, and that they’ve paired some of us up with nationally recognized scientists with common research interests. Our up coming series will help us spread our message to more of the public which will in turn make us better citizen scientists.
Presented by Engage: The Science Speaker Series as part of Seattle Science Lectures, with the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center and University Book Store. Series sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.
Weds January 25th
DOWNSTAIRS, 6:00 pm – 6:45 pm
[precedes Charles Moore]
Jessica Rohde
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Diverse Migration Patterns of Puget Sound Coho Salmon
Weds February 8th
PUB, 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
[follows Wael Ghonim/D. Parvaz]
Shawn Walker
Not Your Parents’ Protest: New Forms of Political Participation in Social Media
Tues February 21
DOWNSTAIRS, 8:00 pm
[follows Dr. Gary Small]
Susan Fung
When Good Cells Go Bad: Your Brain Helping Brain Tumors Survive
Thurs, February 23
DOWNSTAIRS, 7:30 pm
Camila Haristoy
Soils in the Air: The Savings Account of the Forest
Laura E. Martinez
The Life and Times of a Cancer-Causing Bacterium That can Thrive in the Human Stomach
Thurs, March 1
DOWNSTAIRS, 7:30 pm
Andrea Watts
English Holly – Welcomed Guest or Escape Artist?
Katrina Claw
Mission Impossible: A Sperm’s Perilous Journey to the Center of the Egg
Weds, March 7
DOWNSTAIRS, 8:00 pm
[follows Brian Christian]
Katie Kuksenok
Helping Computers Find Meaning They Lost in Translation
Weds, March 21
DOWNSTAIRS, 7:30 pm
Karl Lang
How to Build a Mountain Range
Kelly Huang
Your Favorite Riverside Landscape – Why it Matters to Scientists
Thurs, April 12
DOWNSTAIRS, 7:30 pm
Paul Fischer
The Conscientious Forester: Forests and Carbon Credits in Western Washington
Thurs, April 19
PUB, 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
[follows E.O. Wilson]
Jennifer Griffiths
Fish Out of Water? Salmon and Rapid Environmental Change
Communicating Science to the Public Effectively
ASTR 599B (sln 21050)
Autumn 2011
2 credits (Credit/No Credit)
Meets Mondays 2:30-5:20 in Benson 115
In this course, students will
- develop and practice several analogies to distill their research
- create a variety of concise research promoting statements
- practice story-telling and ways of connecting with the public
- learn improvisation, acting games and lessons
- engage in weekly readings and discussions
- hear from guest speakers on science communication
At the end of the quarter, each student will produce a 30 minute
public talk to be delivered during the winter quarter’s Engage: The
Science Speaker Series.
This week will mark the final talk in our 2011 Engage Speaker Series. We would like to thank everyone who made it out to our talks and supported our speakers and Engage. For many of our speakers, this experience was their very first public talk, and having an interested audience present was huge. Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you next year, when we hope to become part of Science Cafe (more about this soon!)!
This week, Wes Smith will take us into the world of nanotechnology via Quantum Dots. These semiconductor nanoparticles have a lot of potential, particularly as a diagnostic tool in the medical field. Currently, these nanoparticles are made of heavy metals, many of which are toxic in the body. Wes will tell us about ongoing research into the uses and safety of Quantum dots.
A big thanks to everyone that made it out to last week’s Engage talks, given by Julie Shi and Andy McMillan.
Next week, our two speakers share a Pacific Northwest focus. Michael Hannam studies how shoreline terrain alters the fates of two seagrasses, one native, and one exotic. Neala Kendall explores how commercial fishing impacts the size of Chinook salmon in Alaska.
Julie Shi will be talking to us about gene therapy and how scientists are turning viruses from disease causing agents to vehicles for cures. Julie studies the engineering of synthetic viruses.
Andrew will be talking about how scientists study the shapes of proteins using fluorescence. The shape of a protein can affect its function, and fluorescence helps scientists understand how proteins change their shape.
This week, Andrew Sawer, PhD candidate in the Department of Rehabilitation, will talk to us about the art and science of selecting and fitting prosthetic limbs. Different people use their limbs differently, and fitting a prosthetic limb requires careful study and evaluation. Find out more about this process Wednesday, April 13th at 7 PM.
Tonight Melissa gave us a great presentation about the history, use, and some very interesting examples of misuses of graphs. Personally, I was really interested in the example drawn from the BP oil spill. Melissa promised to share some books that were excellent guides to making graphs. They are: “Creating More Effective Graphs” by Naomi B. Robbins (2005) John Wiley & Sons and “Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten” by Stephen Few (2004) Analytics Press. They will help anyone make effective graphs.
Thanks to all who attended, and we hope to see you at future talks, such as the double-header coming up in two weeks. We’ll have a talk about space weather and prosthetic feet. See you then!
Shawn Walker: Not Your Parents’ Protest: New Forms Of Political Participation In Social Media [ 57:31 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (21)
